Stranger in paradise
by Fantony
Summary: Just a little oneshot! Ban surprises Ginji and Kurodo Akabane together talking as if they were old friends... or more! And it hurts him more than he would have thought! And what's that huge bag Ginji is carrying? Pairing: Ban X Ginji.


_HI! This is just a little oneshot! _

_Plot: Ban surprises Ginji and Kurodo Akabane talking together as if they were old friends.. or more! And it hurts him more than he thought! Also, what is that strange bag Akabane's given to Ginji?? _

_Pairing: Ban x Ginji. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Get Backers, unfortunately! _

_Please, also bear in mind I'm French, hence my English is far from perfect!! I just try my best!! :-)_

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**Stranger in paradise**

"Have you seen Ginji?" were Midoban's first words when he entered the Honky Tonk that ordinary summer evening.

Paul and Natsumi exchanged embarrassed looks. Yes, they had seen the blonde guy a bit earlier, but in rather strange company. Natsumi opened her mouth to reply, but Paul beat her to it:

"No, we thought he was with you," he lied, a bit ill at ease. Ban seemed already bad-tempered enough today, so there was no use to annoy him even more, the Honky Tonk owner thought.

"Well, he actually was," Ban snarled, "until we took a nap in the park. When I woke up, he wasn't there anymore"

"He can't be that far" Natsumi said, trying her best to sound comforting.

Ban raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well, I'll check the surrounding area"

He sighed and left without any more word.

He had made his way back to the Subaru when he saw them. Two silhouettes.

One had spiky hair and was holding a huge bag. To his left was a ridiculously tall and thin black silhouette. With a hat on.

Natsumi was right. Ginji wasn't far indeed. Ban's blood froze and his whole body seemed paralysed. He felt as if he had just been stabbed in the heart, though he was sure the said tall black silhouette's Bloody Sword wouldn't have hurt him as much.

Panting, he forced himself to face the two shapes, hiding behind the Subaru. Long white fingers in glove made their way to the blonde's face and gently brushed his cheek. Ginji made no move to push away that enemy hand but stared at the taller man eyes. Ban couldn't stand any more of this. He could barely breathe and his legs were like jelly. The tarmac began to tremble beneath his feet. Everything became blurry and images of the two silhouettes were floating in the air, spinning around him to the sound of violins. Could it be the Jagan? It made no sense, he thought. But let it be it, at least his pain wouldn't last forever. Just one minute. He took off his purple glasses, and rubbed his eyes. In a last effort to stand on his legs, he released his grip on his glasses, and they fell onto the floor. His legs abandoned him and he let himself fall onto the ground too, his back leaning against the car. He closed his eyes.

"Thank you so much Akabane-sama!" He heard Ginji say in a very cheerful voice.

"My pleasure, Ginji-kun! You know where to find me!" whispered the Jackal.

Ginji was so happy. He was making his way to the Honky Tonk, still carrying his huge bag, when he noticed the Subaru. 'Poor Ban, he must have looked for me when he woke up' he thought. When he approached the car, his eyes fell on a foot next to a wheel. That shoe…

He took a deep breath and took a step further, trying to chase away the horrible hunch he had. Once he had reached the point, he slowly turned his head to his right and took a glance at the shoe's owner. His mind submerged in terror. The following second, he had put his bag on the floor and was kneeling down next to his fellow Get Backer, shaking him with all his strength.

"Ban-chan! Ban-chan!" He screamed, tears running down his cheeks.

Ban opened his eyes.

"I'm alive, if that's what you're trying to check. So please stop shaking me like that, you idiot," he smirked.

He wanted to add something but enthusiastic arms had already wrapped around his shoulders, and Ginji had buried his head in his neck, now crying warm and joyful tears. The blasted little fool wasn't making things easy, Ban thought and sighed. He wanted to push him away, send him back to his psychopathic lover, but he just didn't feel strong enough to fight against his beloved blond head's overflowing emotions and melt in his embrace instead, allowing his own arms to wrap around Ginji. A sad smile formed on his lips.. 'Maybe all is not lost after all,' he thought to himself.

"Oh Ban-chan!! You're alive! You're alive! You scared the hell out of me! I thought you were…" Ginji was screaming through sobs.

"Ouch!" Ban winced. "Shockwaves," he added in a casual tone. He was used to them by now.

Ginji relaxed his hug and blushed.

"Sorry!"

"So what happened?" he asked. "Why is it you're sitting on the floor? You're so pale you look as as though you'd just seen a ghost!"

"Sort of," Ban sadly smirked.

Ginji raised an eyebrow, not sure to understand.

"Heat, I suppose," Ban hastened to add, but he could tell Ginji didn't believe any word of it.

He knew Ban disliked hot weather, but the idea of heat making "The Invincible Ban" feel faint was just plainly absurd. He had endured much worse than that. But Ginji knew better than to ask more questions right now. Ban would only tell him once he felt like to.

The sweat had made the Snakeman's hair spikes fall onto his face and stick to his forehead and temples. Ginji pushed the hair tufts away from Ban's sapphire eyes and Ban stiffened at the contact. Now he could clearly see the deep milk chocolate eyes staring at him with concern. He tried to look away, but he knew that when the Lightning Emperor stared at him like that, there was no escape.

"You sure you're okay?" The blonde asked in a whisper.

Ban nodded. Ginji noticed the glasses on the floor and picked them up.

"A chance they didn't break," he said, putting them cautiously back on the bridge of Ban's nose. He then helped his friend to stand up.

"Err… do you think you'd be able to drive right now?" He asked with embarrassment, avoiding Ban's eyes.

The Urchin Head was a bit taken aback but nodded.

"Where do you need to go?" he asked suspiciously.

"Anywhere, as long as it's a quiet place with beautiful scenery"

Ban was finding this situation very confusing but still did what Ginji asked anyway. He trusted his friend more than he trusted himself, although still feeling betrayed by what he had seen earlier. But Ginji didn't know about his feelings after all, so he couldn't blame him. He sighed.

A little later, they were at the peak of a hill, facing the sea. The night had fallen. Ban stopped the car.

"How is that?" he asked Ginji.

"Perfect!" The Lightning Emperor beamed. "Get out of the car now!"

"What?" said a puzzled Ban.

"Get out of the car!" Ginji repeated. "Don't worry, I ain't gonna leave you there on your own and get away with the Subaru! I'm coming too!"

Both of them got away and Ginji sat on the car's bonnet. Ban sat next to him and lighted a cigarette. They stared at the sea, listening to the sound of waves.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ginji asked.

Ban looked at him from the corner of his eyes and nodded. He was still confused and didn't know why Ginji had wanted to bring him there.

The blonde suddenly gave him the huge bag he had taken with him. Ban had completely forgotten about it.

"That's a present for you!" Ginji told him, a slight and embarrassed smile on his face.

Ban was flabbergasted. He wasn't used to be given presents.

"For me? But what for? My birthday's in December!" he stammered.

"Best friend gift," Ginji replied, all excited. "Come on, open it, Ban-chan!"

Ban carefully extracted what looked like a violin box from the bag. He cast an inquisitive look at Ginji. He then opened the box to discover an outstanding violin. It was the most beautiful one he had ever got the chance to see in his life. It was so beautiful he didn't even know whether he was allowed to touch it or not. Ginji was smiling at him fondly.

"It comes from Germany and I've been told it is quite old and rare," the blonde stated happily.

Ban goggled at the mention of his grandmother's country.

"That's the best present I've ever been given…" he whispered, and for the first time in all the years he had known his friend, Ginji could see a tear forming in Ban's eyes and found the sight more than touching.

"Ginji, I just can't accept it, honestly!" Ban went on. His thin fingers were cautiously caressing the wood of the instrument.

"Well, you have to! I just can't send it back to the seller!" Ginji laughed.

"It must have cost a fortune…" Ban whispered, absently.

"Not exactly," the blonde beamed. "Let's say Akabane-sama's helped me a lot"

Ban froze.

"Akabane," he repeated, blankly, suddenly remembering the scene he had witnessed earlier that day.

Ginji grinned.

"Yeah. Well, he would hate me for mentioning it, but he did make a great use of his contacts in Europe, and then he made it a point to come and pick it up himself in Nagoya"

Ban had a lump in his throat. Jackal would never do anything for him, unless it included scalpels and fight. So if that favour wasn't for Ban, it was for… His heart stopped beating.

"Why would Akabane do such a thing for me?" He asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Well, you know how much he enjoys a little fight? I just made a deal with him: he could fight with me, but if I won, he would get me anything I'd want. And he lost of course!" Ginji widened his smile, apparently very proud of himself.

Ban returned the smile and his features relaxed a bit, but he wasn't completely reassured.

"But I saw the two of you earlier, on the pavement, you know, just before you found me… You seemed…," he hesitated, "Pretty close?"

Ginji's mouth dropped open and he then burst into laugh.

"Ban-chan! Don't tell me you thought we were… Oh my! ... I mean, Akabane-sama is sexier than a scarecrow, but still, he's rather spooky! You should know by now how much he freaks me out! Not my fault if he likes flirting with me though, I could go without it!"

Ban felt his cheeks becoming red. Fortunately enough, Ginji wouldn't notice it in the darkness.

"Now Ban-chan, what are you waiting for?" Ginji asked, still giggling, "Play for me, please!"

Ban shook his head. As rude as he may sound, he was a shy and sensitive guy.

"Come on, Ban-chan! I haven't given you a violin just for the sake of giving you a violin!" Ginji encouraged him with an irresistible smile.

Ban grabbed the violin and Stranger in Paradise echoed in the night.

Ginji shivered both at the beauty of the melody and at the beauty of his long time friend, who was playing with his eyes closed, the evening breeze softly caressing his dark brown spiky hair and the moon light making his thin features even more perfect. He looked absolutely stunning!

Violin, moon, summer sky full of stars… What a cliché! Ban thought. But maybe he did like clichés after all. The melody reached its end, and Ban looked up to see Ginji staring at him with his beautiful chocolate eyes. Ban could see stars in them too.

"Ban-chan, that was… wonderful!" Ginji whispered.

Ban cautiously replaced the violin into its box and turned to face his best friend. Could he be mistaking Ginji's feelings after all that happened tonight? He decided not to give it second thoughts and approached the young man. He cupped Ginji's chin in his hands and laid a very slight kiss on his lips. He then stepped back, afraid of the Lightning emperor's reaction but the latter was looking at him with eyes full of love and… lust??

"Ban-chan" Ginji murmured before throwing himself into Ban's arms and kissing him fully on the mouth. When they parted away, Ginji looked at Ban with a little concerned look:

"When I found you on the floor just after Akabane had given me the violin, you weren't feeling faint because of the heat, were you?"

"Well, don't tell me you seriously believe I have been jealous of that freak?" Ban smirked, looking purposely away.

Ginji grinned and pushed his friend to make him fall onto the grass. Straddling Ban's hips, he took off the Evil Eye owner's glasses.

"You don't need to hide from me anymore," he said, "and who would be daft enough to wear sunglasses at night anyway?" he teased.

"Do you think your mittens are any better, Amano Ginji?" Ban sneered.

He made Ginji roll to his side and kissed him deeply again.

That wasn't such an ordinary summer evening, after all.

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_Thanks for reading!! And sorry if it turned into such a sentimental way in the end, i'm in a lovey-dovey mood, apparently! :-p_

_If there are English mistakes, i'd be glad to be informed! Cheers!! (which doesn't mean you can't review on the story too! lol) _


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